CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT, and THANK YOU for your interest in The Buzzcatz!

WEDDING FAQ

Q: How much space do you need for the standard 9 piece band? A: 24 x 12 is our standard space for the 9 piece group, 18x12 for the small groups. For the larger band (11 + pieces), we go up to 24 x 16. For some venues a stage is not necessary. All of our electrical & staging needs will be included in our contract rider.

Q: Will you act as Emcee for all of the announcements and introductions? A: Yes. The bandleader will act as the Emcee for the entire evening and co-ordinate with your photographer, videographer, caterer and wedding coordinator before he announces any of the evening’s festivities.

Q: Do you have a wireless mic so that we can do our toasts from the head table? A: Yes.

Q: What is the process for confirming The Buzzcatz for our date? A: It's very simple! You send us a confirmation email with all of your details (date, time, venue, number of pieces you want in the band, your mailing address & phone number) and we will email you back our contract. It's a very simple two-page document and there's not a lot of legal mumbo jumbo. You sign and email (or mail) the contract back to us along with a 50% deposit. We will send you a signed copy for your file. The balance payment is due 7 days prior to the wedding.

Q: Do have music playing between sets? A: YES. We offer a pre-mixed iPod playlist of your requests during our breaks, or our LIVE DJ between shows. We'll always have a host at the stage at all times to make any announcements and keep the party going. If you are planning to use pre-recorded music for key moments of the night - Bridal Party Intros, First Dance, Father/Daughter Dance mashup, etc; then we recommend that you employ our LIVE DEEJAY for best results on those playback duties.

Q: If our First Dance song is not on your list, will you learn it? A: Yes! We are happy to learn your first dance song, unless it's something that just wouldn't fit our vocalists style or our sound. Some songs snap together more easily than others. We will know when to recommend sticking to the original recording.

If you choose a Michael Buble' or Sinatra style song not already found on our list and you are looking for that "big band" sound on the recording, those tunes require a special custom horn chart (sheet music) arrangement done by our arranger, and cost $400 per song to have arranged just like the recording. (This is why you won't hear too many other bands with 500 horn charts for everything from Sinatra to Earth Wind & Fire & Justin Timberlake; and why our band sounds so good on those tunes!)

Q: Can you provide a microphone for our ceremony? A: YES - but you'll need more than just a microphone. Our sound system for ceremonies includes two speakers on stands, a mixing board with inputs for musicians, a lapel lavalier mic for your officiant, and two handheld mics for anyone speaking. Our sound crew sets, runs, and strikes the system. See our package upgrades for details.

Q: What do you bring in a way of a stage, power, etc?A: You provide the stage, the power, and any tenting needed. Your wedding planner will help you with all of those needs. If you need a recommendation, try EVENT SOLUTIONS in Orlando for all of that stuff. Our contract rider calls for a 24 x 12 stage, a power drop from the venue (talk to your venue, they will know what we need when we say "power drop"), a dressing room, and meals for the band. None of our requirements are extraordinary for the hotels or country clubs. If your venue is a private home or older structure, you will need generators for proper power to the band. We always have our tech speak to the house electrician so that everything goes smoothly on the day of.

Q: Is your pricing based hourly and do you charge more for some venues?A: Our pricing is based on a four hour reception (5 hours with cocktail hour). We don't charge more for certain venues, but we might charge less if you can give us a clear picture of what your reception will be like. Is it a large wedding of 150+ people in a ballroom with a big bridal party to introduce and lots special requests? Or are you having a more intimate affair with 60 guests at a private home or country club with no formalities or special requests? Just give Ricky a clear picture of what you need, and he will give you the best pricing package available.

Q: Can we see you play “live”? A: Since most of our gigs are private events, it may be awhile before you can see us play "live". We play some public shows every now and then, so check our website for any upcoming dates. We'd love for you to see us in action at a wedding, but we've never felt good about bringing uninvited guests to our client's weddings. For this reason, we offer lots of live videos of our band on our website, Facebook page, and YouTube channel. If you can please spend a few minutes exploring our website, you can get a very clear picture of who we are, what we sound like, and what we are all about. If you'd like some references, just ask any wedding pro in town about us.

Ricky is available any time via phone or email and always happy to help with any of your questions or if you need assistance in any way. Contact Ricky: 321-277-5522 or email: thebuzzcatz@gmail.com

A FEW TIPS FROM RICKY ABOUT HIRING THE BUZZCATZ......

Hire a PRO wedding planner. Pro wedding vendors are used to working with pro wedding planners. Your Mom and Maid Of Honor might have some party planning chops, but give them the night off and let them enjoy themselves. Hire pros for this night. A pro wedding planner will pay for herself in the time and money she will save you. You get what you pay for, and that goes double for the band and the planner. Your venue may offer a day-of coordinator service, and that works also; but you'll need someone calling the shots.

Talk to the venue in advance to arrange for power, staging, green room, and meals for the band. It is important to the flow of our setup that everything be pre-arranged and set for our crew's arrival. All of our rider requirements for power, stage, and green room will be listed in our (short) rider attached to our contract, and none of our requirements are out of the ordinary for any of the resorts or clubs. Expect a fee from hotel ballrooms for the power drop - that is common practice, and unfortunately there's no way around it for us or for any band.

Let The Buzzcatz do "our thing". Just let us know your favorite songs on our list, and we will be sure to include them in the sets. Each party has it's own pulse and it's own pace. You can plan it down to the minute, but much like a quarterback who goes into a game with a game plan, we also need to have the ability and the freedom to call the audibles at the line of scrimmage as we see the need. We've found that our band is at our best when we are in our comfort zone, playing the songs we know, and reading the party as we go.

Book EARLY! The best wedding vendors in this area will book nearly every weekend, so don't delay in confirming the date with them once you've made your choice. A contract and a deposit is the only way vendors can hold a date for you. Our prime Saturday nights book a year or more in advance in some cases, with October-June being the prime season.

Don't forget to add the sound system for the ceremony! If no one can hear your officiant, your ceremony will be lost on your guests.

Have a backup plan for an outdoor wedding in FL. An outdoor wedding in FL is always a roll of the dice, any time of the year. Floridians already know this, but many of our clients are from out of state. Florida weather is very unpredictable, and even during our normally dry Winter months it can go from 85 to 45 degrees overnight. This isn't California, so bring your umbrella! Be sure that your venue has a "Plan B" if you are booking an outdoor reception, and trust your Wedding Planner if she makes the call to move indoors.